Rail-chair for roadways and street-crossings.



A. G. LIEBMANN. RAIL CHAIR FOR ROADWAYS AND STREET caossmes. APPLIOATIONFILED AUG. 27, 1913.

1,126,521. Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

STATES PATENT OFTQEQ AUGUST Gr. IIIEBMANN, OF BUTTE, MONTANA, ASSIGNORT0 VIGNOLES RAIL (IT-TATE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OFDELAW'ARE.

RAIL-CHAIR FOR ROADWAYS AND STREET-CROSSINGS.

Application filed August 27, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, AUGUsT Gr. LIEBMANN,citizen of the United States, residing at Butte, in the county ofSilverbow and State of Montana, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Rail-Chairs for Roadways and Street-Crossings, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway appliances and particularly to railchairs.

The main object of the present invention is the provision of a railchair peculiarly designed for use at country roads, street crossings,floors in terminal buildings, and where tracks are laid on streets.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rail chair of thecharacter above described so constructed as to permit realinement of therail, provide for a flangeway on either side of the rail, and present asurface extending on either side of the rail to permit of haulingtrucks, wagons, etc.

A further object is the provision of a very simple construction for thispurpose so designed that the rail may be laterally shifted to bring itto gage without the necessity of removing or readjusting the primaryfastenings by which the chair is held to the tie.

A further object is to so construct the chair that all stresses to whichthe rail is subjected will be properly resisted and the rail bracedagainst vertical, horizontal, and tipping thrusts.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the railmay be readily adjusted without the necessity of tearing up the trackand surface flooring in order to accomplish this end.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a rail chair constructed in accordancewith my invention, the tie and rail being also illustrated. Fig. 2 is aplan view of the rail chair illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sideelevation of the construction shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to these drawings A designates a tie, which may be of anyordinary form Specification of Letters IPatent.

Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

Serial No. 787,016.

or material, and B designates a rail of standard cross section. Disposedupon the tie A is a base plate 2 which is held to the tie by means ofscrew spikes 3 of any suitable character. The base plate 2 is formed atopposite ends with upstanding abutments 3. The inner face 4: of eachabutment is vertical but at its upper end is inwardly extended as at 5so as to form an overhanging lip. The inner face 1 of each abutment islongitudinally inclined as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, theinner face of one abutment being oppositely inclined to the inner faceof the opposite abutment. Each abutment is downwardly and outwardlyinclined upon its outer face and is formed with a laterally projectingbracket 6, this bracket being formed with a screw threaded opening 7 fora purpose to be later stated.

Disposed upon the upper face of the base plate 2 and between theabutments so as to engage the rail B, are rail braces 8. Each of theserail braces has a downwardly and outwardly inclined inner face and isformed with a basal foot 9 and a head 10, the head engaging beneath thehead of the rail while the foot engages upon the base flange of therail. The body of each rail brace is i11- clined upon its outer face asat 11 so as to coact with the inclined faces 41 of the abutments andwedge thereagainst. Each rail brace is formed on one end with anoutwardly and laterally projecting arm or tongue 12 which extendsparallel to the length of the base plate and which is slotted for thepassage of a screw threaded pin 13, the slot being designated 14. Ifdesired the rail braces and abutments may have cored concavities toreduce their weight. Each pin 13 is screwthreaded in the adjacentabutment 3, as illustrated clearly in Fig. 2, and mounted upon thepins-13, which really constitute stud bolts, are nuts 15 engaging one oneach side of the tongue or extension 12. It will be seen now that byloosening one looking nut and screwing up upon the other nut thecorresponding rail brace may be shifted longitudinally parallel to therail and that its wedging face, bearing against the wedging face of thecorresponding abutment, will shift the rail laterally. By moving one ofthe wedging rail braces in one direction and the opposite rail brace inthe opposite direction a lateral adjustment of the rail in eitherdirection may be secured and this lateral adjustment may be as slight asdesired. After the rail braces have been adjusted they are locked intheir adjusted position by screwing up upon the nuts 15.

It is to be noted that the rail braces engage beneath the head of therail and upon the base flange of said rail, that the braces cannot risebecause of the fact that they extend beneath the overhanging lips of theabutments, and that they cannot move laterally accidentally because theyare'held by the abutments and are clamped thereon by the belt or pins13. Itwill further be seen that any tipping strain transmitted to therail will be translated into a downward thrust against the base flangeof the rail. It is further to be noted that the top of each abutment isbelow the level of the rail and that the upper face of each rail braceis curved downwardly and outwardly so as to be below the upper face ofthe corresponding abutment. A flangeway is thus provided on either sideof the rail for a wheel flange, as shown clearly in Fig. 3.

There rails are laid in streets, at street crossings, on country'roadsor 'on floors of terminal buildings, means must be provided to support awagon'wheel on a level with the rail and close thereto so as to permitof easy hauling of trucks and wagons across the rail. For this purpose Iprovide flangeway members or housings, preferably in the form oflongitudinally extending angle irons 16, the vertical flange of eachangle iron resting upon the extremity of the base plate and thehorizontal flange resting upon and being supported by the correspondingbracket 6 and abutment. These angle irons, it will be understood, extendlongitudinally parallel to the rail and are supported at intervals bythe rail chairs. The angle irons are held in engagement with the railchairs by means of screws 17 which extend through the horizontal flangesof the angle irons and into the perforations 7 of the abutment brackets.By removing these screws it is an easy matter to remove the angle ironsand thus expose the adjusting mechanism of the chair. These angle irons16 not only provide a supporting surface on a level with the tread ofthe rail and relatively near thereto, but they also house the adjustingmechanism of the chair, preventing snow, ice and mud from collectingthere around and thus facilitate the ready adjustment of the chair. Itwill be noted from Fig. 3 that the horizontal flange of each angle iron16 terminates in line with the inner face of the lip 5 of thecorresponding abutment so that ample space is left for a wheel car orengine flange, this space, however, being too small to permit a baggagetruck wheel to enter, and as street vehicles are supposed only to crossrailways at regulation crossings, it is obvious that an even surface isprovided over the rail.

The bed plate with its upstanding abut- 'ments and the rail braces arepreferably made of malleable castings but I do not wish to be limited tothis, nor-do I wish to be limited to the use of this form of rail chairin connection with street crossings, roads, etc. i

It willbeseeir that with the rail chair described, the rail may beadjusted laterally without any change in the primary fastenings-S andthat this adjustment may be readily secured. The chair may be cheaplymade, is thoroughly effective inactual practice and conformsto-therequirements laid down by the Block Signal and Train Control Board ofthe Interstate Commerce Commission, in that horizontal, vertical andtipping thrusts are resisted and in that the rail may be laterallyadjusted without change in the primary fastenings and with outlostmo'tion.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A rail chair comprising a base plate having upstanding abutments atopposite ends, said abutments having overhanging lips on their innerfaces, rail braces adapted to engage'the head and base flange of a railand having wedgingengagement with'the abutments and extending beneaththe overhanging lips, and means for holding the rail braces in adjustedposition.

2. A rail chair comprising abase plate hai'ung upstanding 'abutments atopposite ends, said abu'tments having longitudinally inclined innerfaces overhanging lips at the upper ends of said inner faces, railbraces adaptedto engage the head and base flange of a rail and extendingbeneath said lips, *and adjusting members projecting from the abutmentsand through said braces.

3. Ina rail chair, a base plate having upstanding abutments at itsopposite ends, said abutments having longitudinally inclined innerfaces, rail braces disposed between the abutments and havinglongitudinally inclined outer faces confronting the inclined faces ofthe abutments, each of said rail braces having lateral extension, screwthreaded members projecting from the sides of the abutments and throughsaid extensions of the rail braces, and nuts on the said screw threadedmembers engaging said extensions.

4. A rail chair comprising a base plate having oppositely disposed*abutments, rail braces, disposed between the abutments, means forwedging said rail braces laterally against a rail, and a fiangewaymember members to said abutments.

6. A rail chair comprising a base plate having upstanding abutments atits opposite ends, rail braces disposed between said abutments andextending downwardly and outwardly, the abutments being less in heightthan a rail, the inner faces of the abutments engaging said rail braces,flangeway members resting upon the upper faces of said abutments andhaving their upper faces disposed in the same plane as the tread of therail disposed between said abutments, and means for engaging theflangeway members with said abutments.

7. A rail chair comprising a base plate, upwardly extending abutments,rail braces disposed between the abutments, means for wedging the railbraces laterally into engagement with a rail, an angle iron disposed ateach end of the base plate and each having a vertical flange and ahorizontal flange, the horizontal flange resting upon the upper face ofthe corresponding abutment, and a screw passing through each horizontalflange and into the corresponding abutment, the inner edges of the angleirons being spaced from the rail supported between the abutments.

S. The combination with a rail and a tie, of a base plate mounted uponthe tie and having oppositely disposed upstanding abutments, rail bracesdisposed one on each side of the rail and engaging said abutments, meansfor wedging said rail braces laterally and holding them in adjustedposition,

and angle irons extending parallel to the rail and disposed at each endof the base plate, each of said angle irons having a vertical flange anda horizontal flange, the horizontal flanges resting upon the upper facesof the abutments, and screws passing through the horizontal flanges andinto said abutments.

9. The combination with a tie and a rail, of a chair comprising a baseplate resting upon the tie and beneath the rail, said base plate havingoppositely disposed upwardly extending abutments each formed with anoverhanging lip upon the upper end of its inner face, the inner faces ofthe abutments being oppositely inclined with relation to each other,rail braces engaging one on each side of the rail, the outer faces ofthe rail braces being longitudinally inclined to coact with the innerfaces of the abutments and the larger end of each rail brace having aslotted lateral extension, a screw threaded adjusting member projectingfrom each abutment parallel to the rail and passing through said slottedrail brace extension, adjusting nuts mounted on the screw threadedmembers, brackets projecting from the abutments, angle irons disposedone at each end of the base plate, each angle iron having a horizontalflange extending over and resting upon a corresponding bracket, andscrews passing through said horizontal flanges and into said brackets.

10. The combination with a rail, of a base plate adapted to support therail and provided with an upstanding abutment, means interposed betweenthe abutment and rail for clamping said rail on the base plate, and amember co-acting with the rail and having its inner face spaced from thehead of said rail to form an intermediate flangeway.

11. A rail chair including a base plate having upstanding abutments, theinner faces of which are longitudinally inclined, rail braces disposedbetween the abutments and having longitudinally inclined outer facescoacting with the inclined faces of the abutments, each rail bracehaving an extension, and means projecting from the abutments andengaging the extensions of the rail braces for adjusting said railbraces laterally with respect to the base plate.

12. A rail chair including a base plate having upstanding abutments,means for permanently securing the base plate to a sub-structure,adjustable rail braces coacting with the abutments, flangeway memberssupported on the abutments, and means for adjusting the rail braces toshift a rail latorally with respect to the base plate without disturbingthe sub-structure or the means for permanently securing the base platethereto.

13. A rail chair including a base plate having upstanding abutments andprovided with a seat adapted to support a rail, means adapted to beinterposed between the abutments and the rail for adjusting the raillaterally with respect to its seat, and members disposed at oppositeends of the base plate and having their inner faces spaced from the headof the rail to form an intermediate flangeway, said members forming ahousing for the abutments.

ll. A rail chair for railways and rail surface crossings including abase plate having upstanding abutments spaced apart to form a seat for arail, adjusting wedges adapted to be interposed between the abutmentsand the rail for adjusting the rail laterally with respect to its seat,members detachably secured to the abutments and having their inner facesspaced from the head of the rail to form an intermediate flangeway, and

looking members connecting the ad usting way members disposed onopposite sides of Wedges With the abutments Whereby the rail the railvand ,co-acting therewith. 10 may be adjusted Without disturbing thebase In testimony whereof I aflix my signature plate or its support. inpresence of two Witnesses.

15. The combination with a tie and a rail, AUGUST G. LIEBMANN [L s. l ofa base plate permanently secured to the lVitnesses: tie, means foradjusting the rail laterally J. D. YOAKLEY, with respect to the baseplate, and flange- FREDERIO B. lVRIGHT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

